OK, I admit it: I didn't
really want to let go of the Meishu. It's a really
good integrated amplifier, and I had put a lot of
time and money into NOS tubes and Black Gate
capacitors and… well, you get the idea. But the
time had come, for personal and practical reasons,
to scale down the system. So I had just assumed that
I would use my Tri TRV-88SE KT88-based integrated
amplifier with an outboard phonostage, and be done
with it. But Nick Gowan asked me, "Do you plan to
keep the AN-E/SEC/SILVERS?" to which I replied,
"Yes". So he suggested, even though it cost
$3,500.00, that I try the Tri-TRVA300SER 300B-based
integrated amplifier, because it is, in a way, a
mini-Meishu, but so much more. First, it has a built
MM phonostage (like the Meishu) plus a simple
headphone amplifier (which, unfortunately, uses a
3.5MM mini-socket; but more on that later) and,
lastly, it actually has a remote control for volume
and mute, something that I had desperately wanted
for the Meishu since I occasionally use the system
for watching Blu-ray discs, and remote volume
control is nearly essential with movie soundtracks.

As I write this, I am
listening to the 24/48 download of Karrin Allyson's
'Round Midnight from hdtracks.com, through
the digital music server (which I did not scale
down), and it sounds just like heaven, my Audio Note
AN-E/SEC/SILVER loudspeakers with muRata super
tweeters, being driven by the Tri TRV-A300SER; and I
can't imagine a more lovely midrange or a deeper
bass with better "thwack" on the percussion.If I had
one complaint, it would be that the Tri is a little
on the warm side, with a slightly rolled off treble,
and less than stellar "air" or ambience around the
instruments and performers; however, those are
forgivable sins given all that you get for $3500.
And we haven't even gotten to the headphone amp or
phonostage yet! Speaking of the headphone amp (I
actually usually use a separate Woo WA22 connected
to the Tri through six feet of Audio Note AN-Vz
interconnect cables with AN-P connectors), my
solution was to contact Drew Baird and have him
build an adapter cable for me, a short Black Dragon
¼" socket to Oyaide mini-plug affair. It hasn't
arrived yet (I hate snail mail) but I'm sure it will
be lovely.

Speaking of the
phonostage, I now use a Rega P3-24 with an RB-301
tonearm, a slightly modified Rega TT-PSU, and an
Audio Note IQ3 MM phono cartridge. It's not as
glamorous as my Transrotor Fat Bob Reference, but it
gets the job done and I'm actually more comfortable
with it because I was always afraid of breaking my
DaVinci cartridge, and owing Nick another
$7000-$9000 for a new one; plus, and this not to say
that Rega setup is superior to the Transrotor, but
it does seem to track most of my records
better—albeit with a bit more noise—and it is
smaller and prettier, something that we'll get to
with the Tri. My impression of the built in
phonostage playing, as an example, the 45RPM double
LP of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, is that it's
very, very good. It certainly sounds better than my
digital music server playing the 24/96 download of
the same title, and there's a lot of money in that,
relatively speaking. It's just that I think the
future of music distribution—hell, the present—is in
digital downloads with some room left over for
vinyl. So we have yet another source!

A few days have passed,
and my Moon Audio Black Dragon ¼" to mini-plug
adapter has arrived; it's lovely. I decided to try
to my Moon Audio-modified Black Dragon Beyerdynamic
Tesla T1's with the Tri TRV-A300SER and the results
were actually quite interesting. It took a bit of
time for the adapter to burn in; at first, Brad
Mehldau's Largo sounded lush, but a little
bright or harsh and kind of "splashy". However, by
the time I played Miguel Zenon's Alma Adentro:
The Puerto Rican Songbook the treble was
sounding much cleaner. And once I put on Branford
Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo's Song of Mirth and
Melancholy, the sound was nothing but lush and
gorgeous with a very clear and bell-like treble. So,
while I prefer the Woo WA22 and perhaps even the Tri
TRV-88SE as a headphone amplifier, the headphone amp
in the TRV-A300SER should bear no shame for it's
smaller 3.5MM socket; with the right adapter, it can
produce world-class sound, and I would be happy to
use it alone with my Tesla T1's as my
headphone-playing system.

My double LP of Like
Minds by Gary Burton, et al, arrived from
Acoustic Sounds, and I immediately put it on the
Rega P3-24 for a spin. In the past, I felt
that—particularly with the Audio Note IQ3 MM
cartridge—I heard more noise than with my old
Transrotor/DaVinci/Meishu rig. However, I have to
say that Like Minds, possibly the flattest
slab of vinyl in my collection, sounded wonderful
with absolutely no noise whatsoever. And that's at
33-and-1/3 RPM! The vibes sounded luscious with
cleanly divided lines between the bass and electric
guitars; the imaging and soundstage were superb,
everything just falling into a very natural groove.
It's one the best listening experiences I've ever
had. And while the treble may have been the
slightest bit "splashy", the slightest bit recessed
in comparison to the venerable Meishu, it did not
stand between me and the music. So whatever Tri did to make
the whole amp sound so good clearly made it into the phonostage as well. By coincidence, my vinyl boxed
set of the Miles Davis Quintet's, Live in Europe
1967: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1 arrived. At
first, I have to say it sounded very bright; but
after my experience with Like Minds I didn't
think it had to do with the turntable or the Tri, so
I cleaned the first slab of vinyl with the Disc
Doctor Quick Wash on my Clearaudio Matrix. That
definitely improved the sound, and although it still
had a bit too much sparkle, I found it entered the
realm of listenability, probably on headphones, late
at night. In other words, the Tri was simply playing
what it got.

Now the last issue to
address is the paltry 7-8 watts/channel that the
300B's put out. You definitely need a very efficient
pair of speakers to make the most of the music. In
scaling down the system, I managed to keep my Audio
Note AN-E/SEC/SILVERS, but I imagine that AN-J's
would be an equally good match, if slightly less
efficient and with slightly less bass. So
what do we have here? An attractive, small
integrated amplifier with a built in phonostage,
headphone amplifier and line out for (in my case) a
separate headphone amp (the Woo WA22). And how does
it sound? Well it sounds lovely, with rich, sonorous
bass, a lovely little blossom of midrange, and a
slightly recessed treble that still has enough,
"oomph", to offer a touch of sparkle on occasion. It
doesn't have the "air" or ambience of my venerable
Meishu, but then it doesn't have Western Electric
300B's or all NOS tubes, not to mention lots of
upgraded Black Gate capacitors. So for $3500—with
the right speakers and a quality set of sources—it's
a real bargain and just a great amplifier. One thing
I should mention, at least in passing, is that it
particularly favors the digital music server; maybe
that's because, based on cost alone, the music
server is the "best" source I have. Who knows what
potential of the Tri TRV-A300SER remains untapped?
I'm sure that I'll find out.

P. S. Last night I
stayed at my girlfriend's apartment and took my
portable headphone rig with me (a 160GB iPod
Classic, AlgoRhythm Solo and original ALO
Continental). The headphones that I usually use with
this are my Beyerdynamic T5p's modified by Moon
Audio to use Silver Dragon cabling. Seeing the
mini-plug, a thought occurred to me; so when I got
home, I hooked the T5p's up to the mini-socket on
the TRV-A300SER and played Marilyn Mazur's Elixir
in my Tri tubed CD player. Now that was a
match made in heaven. The slightly warmer tonal
balance of the T5p's perfectly complimented the
sonic signature of the TRV-A300SER's headphone amp;
and I was like a dog with a bone. It came very
close to the sound of my Woo WA22 with my Black
Dragon T1's using a ¼" plug. So if you plan to use
the TRV-A300SER as your only headphone amp,
seriously consider a pair of headphones designed for
more portable electronics. I think you'll find the
combination quite rewarding and sonorous.